Newcastle United beat ‘second biggest club’ in world football to £32m signing

Early 2022 saw the Saudi-backed regime in its infancy on Tyneside, with Toon chiefs scrambling to keep the Magpies in the Premier League. With the club in the bottom three, Newcastle did not have the pulling power to attract Europe’s top stars.

While Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes joined, Sven Botman proved a harder catch. Then at Lille who, just a year earlier won the Ligue 1 title, the Dutchman was hesitant to join a side facing the drop.

Botman ultimately joined in the summer once survival was secured and played a pivotal role in securing Champions League football the following season. However, his arrival was not without Newcastle needing to stave off an elite European competitor.

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Seven-time Champions League winners AC Milan also pursued Botman, with the defender admitting a move was close to ESPN before joining Newcastle. Buoyed by Maldini as sporting director, one of the world’s greatest-ever defenders, the Italians held a trump card.

But the Magpies got the deal over the line and, until his recent ACL injury, Botman looked like developing into one of the Premier League’s best centre-backs. Maldini has now labelled Milan the “second biggest” club in world football - inferior only to Spanish juggernauts Real Madrid.

“I think Real Madrid is the biggest club in the world, with Milan in second position,” he told Madrid’s media channel. “I believe that what Real represents the most for the fans is their own identity. 

“People like Florentino Perez, Emilio Butragueno and all the people who work for the club every day give more and more strength to this identity. Mr (Ancelotti) was my partner because we played together for four to five years, winning the European Cup. 

“For me, playing the end of my career with Carlo as coach was a great pleasure. We enjoyed the time together.”